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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29032131">The Great Quest (Working Title)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NintendoAceAttorneyFan/pseuds/NintendoAceAttorneyFan'>NintendoAceAttorneyFan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Metroid Series, Super Smash Brothers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:20:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,234</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29032131</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NintendoAceAttorneyFan/pseuds/NintendoAceAttorneyFan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
      <p>(If anyone's confused by the fandom, the plot is not focused on Smash fights. Instead, it's a combination of series INCLUDED in Smash, and others. I'm hoping to be able to write a big, long story along with "Origami Hearts". I've been working on this for a while, if you have any criticism you would like to give, please do so.)<br/>This is based off a story I wrote a couple years back, just a longer version of it.</p>
    </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Great Quest (Working Title)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>(If anyone's confused by the fandom, the plot is not focused on Smash fights. Instead, it's a combination of series INCLUDED in Smash, and others. I'm hoping to be able to write a big, long story along with "Origami Hearts". I've been working on this for a while, if you have any criticism you would like to give, please do so.)<br/>This is based off a story I wrote a couple years back, just a longer version of it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Admit it… You’ve lost.” A sinister voice rang through the halls of the coliseum. </p><p>“No… No, it can’t be… We should’ve won… How could this happen?” There was another voice. The person was panicking, acting desperate. “O-One more chance, please…”</p><p>“If I remember correctly, you were the ones who made the deal, no?” The voice softened. “If you don’t pay your end of the bargain… well, let’s just say that things will get a bit… <em> messy </em> in here, if you know what I mean.”</p><p>“N-No, please, sir!” The other voice started to beg. “E-Earth is running out of natural resources! The materials you want are extremely scarce! S-Surely there’s something else we can give you!”</p><p>“Something else…” The voice let out a menacing chuckle. “I actually <em> do </em> have something in mind. However, it is not a job for one person.”</p><p>“I can handle anything alone!” The voice became more confident. “Tell me what needs to be done, and I’ll do it!”</p><p>“I’m looking for ores from a distant planet.” The voice sighed. “The world is located somewhere off the rim of the Milky Way Galaxy. If you have a decent ship, the journey should take no more than a month or two.”</p><p>The other voice shuddered. <em> A month? </em>“A month? Is that how long it will take to get from Earth to wherever this planet is? Or is that how long the mission will take overall?”</p><p>The sinister voice laughed. “There is no guarantee that you will be able to successfully retrieve the minerals I desire… The planet is currently unsafe. It is inhabited by creatures with toxic venom, the air is poisonous, and the soil… It would be lethal if it came into contact with a human, unless you wear protective armor. That shouldn’t be a problem for you, Aran… am I correct?”</p><p>The person named Aran quickly nodded. “You’re correct, sir. I’ll begin preparing for the mission—”</p><p>“Halt.” The voice became stern. “You are not permitted to go alone.”</p><p>Aran glared. “Why not? I’m ready for anything!”</p><p>The voice sighed. “Aran… you’re a great mercenary… and a great bounty hunter. Hypothetically, if you embark on this journey and don’t return in one piece… Where would that leave everyone?”</p><p>“I can assure you I will survive this mission!” Aran smiled. “I’ve had plenty of experience on foreign soil. This isn’t my first time journeying through space, you know!”</p><p>“Heh. Very rebellious, Aran. That’s what I like about you.” The voice suddenly changed tones. “However, heed my warning. I strongly suggest that you take some allies with you… just in case.”</p><p>Aran rose from her seat and grabbed her blaster and placed it in its holster. She placed her helmet over her head and walked out of the arena. After taking a few steps outside, she was greeted by a floating white object. The object looked at her curiously and excitedly. Aran jumped backward and readied her blaster. She quickly recognized the creature and pocketed her weapon, while letting out a half-relieved, half-frustrated sigh.</p><p>“Oh… Hello, Master.” She chuckled. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”</p><p>“How’d the battle go?” the creature asked. “Did you win?! You won, didn’t you?!”</p><p>Aran quietly coughed. “Er, actually, we didn’t win. The enemy kept grabbing Assist Trophies. Really annoying. He kept spawning in these yellow creatures with guns. I could barely move forward. I was able to wipe out one of them, but my armor was penetrated and filled from top to bottom with bullet holes.”</p><p>Master Hand sighed. “Well, what about the bet we placed? What’s going to happen?”</p><p>Aran shrugged. “I dunno. It seems like he increased the wager behind our backs. But, I won’t worry about what he’s doing right now. However, he is demanding a certain type of ore that is not accessible on this planet. He wants me to locate a planet on the outer rim of the Milky Way. I can handle that mission alone—I know I can!”</p><p>Master Hand shook his head. (He doesn’t really have one, does he?) “You cannot go alone.”</p><p>“Why not?!” Aran was outraged. “You sound just like that man!”</p><p>“Apprentice… This could potentially be a one-way journey. If you choose to embark on this mission and don’t return in one piece… I would never be able to forgive myself.”</p><p>“You <em> know </em> I have the power and strength!” Aran smirked. “I’ve shown you many times before!”</p><p>“Perhaps you misunderstood me. I did not say that you are weak or that you cannot be trusted. I merely said that I am concerned for your safety. I have trained you for many years, and I know that you are prepared for this kind of mission, but…” He turned away. “I strongly suggest that you bring along a partner with you.”</p><p>“You don’t understand, Master. I’m a <em> bounty hunter </em>. Bounty hunters don’t work with others.”</p><p>“What’s wrong with having a squad?” </p><p>“There’s nothing wrong with having a usual squad, but a squad of bounty hunters… that wouldn’t really make sense.”</p><p>“Well, then.” Master Hand inched closer to Aran. “Allow me to come with you on your journey… You’ll need a partner if you’re to retrieve the minerals. Besides, it’ll get lonely in space without a buddy… or two… to talk to. I’ll gladly assist you.”</p><p>Aran smiled softly. “Thanks, Master. I’d greatly appreciate it.” She paused for a second. “Actually, Master, may I ask you something?”</p><p>“Anything.”</p><p>“You brought up something about a group, right?” </p><p>“Right. I have been looking for people to assist you in the Smash championship, but, uh… it seems like it’ll be a while until you’re able to enroll in the competition again. However, there’s one person in particular who’s really eager to join you. He acted a bit strange when I first talked to him, but after that, things became pretty normal. I told him about the tournament, and he was really excited to learn more about it.”</p><p>“Well, what are we supposed to him?” Aran asked. “We can’t just tell him we lost the tournament! We have to be subtle.”</p><p>“You’re right,” Master Hand responded. “I’ll contact him on my holographic device.” A small circular device suddenly fell on the concrete about an inch in front of Master Hand. The device was mostly silver with a small blue circle in the middle. “Oh… I should probably tell you. The hologram can’t actually appear. I’ve been through many tough battles, it was damaged during a lot of them.”</p><p>“Hello?” A shaky voice came from the speaker of the hologram projector. “Who’s this?”</p><p>“Ah… Hello, friend.” Master Hand spoke calmly. “Great to hear from you again.”</p><p>“Oh, it’s you!” The person seemed excited. “What did you need?”</p><p>“Remember that championship I told you about?”</p><p>“Uh… yeah. What about it?”</p><p>“Well, er…” He struggled trying to make his statement as vague as possible. “We had a bit of… bad luck, as most people would say. My apprentice made a mistake during the battle, and… we’ve gotten ourselves into quite the predicament.” </p><p>“What happened?!” He sounded panicky. “D-Did you get hurt? I can heal you right up! If you want me to…”</p><p>Aran quickly realized he was talking about her and answered his questions. “No, I’m fine, but thank you for asking!”</p><p>He sighed. “That’s a relief… So, um… did you want to meet up later?”</p><p>She lowered her voice so the person on the other side couldn’t hear her. “Master, is this a good idea? Can he be trusted?”</p><p>“Of course, apprentice.” His tone became stern. “You should never judge a book by its cover. Or, in this case, never judge a person by their… voice, I guess? You get the point. It’s unhealthy to make assumptions.”</p><p>“I suppose you’re right, Master.” She raised her voice again and turned toward the device. “Sure, we can meet up. Do you have any place in mind? I’m open to suggestions.”</p><p>“There’s a marketplace close to where I’m at right now. It shouldn’t be too far from wherever you are. I’ll send you a message and a link to a map of the area, alright?” </p><p>The device flickered, and a blue light shone from it. There was a map of a strange area Aran and her master were unfamiliar with. Aran picked up the device and spoke into it.</p><p>“You want us to meet you in… wherever this place is.”</p><p>“Right, meet me there.” He paused for a second before adding, “In a few hours. I need to get ready. See you soon.” The sound cut out, and the hologram faded.</p><p>Master Hand turned to Aran. “I’ve heard of that place. There are quite a lot of people there. You’ll need to change your… outfit before you meet up with our partner.”</p><p>“Right.” She sighed. “How long till we reach the ship?”</p><p>“It’s a mile, maybe a mile and a half down the road… er, the… desert, I guess.” His tone became confused and serious. “Wait… you aren’t seriously thinking of flying your ship into the city?”</p><p>“Of course not!” Aran glared. “Well, okay… I <em> was </em> considering it, but that would be a really dumb idea. Fine… what do <em> you </em> suppose we use then?”</p><p>“Well… we have a choice between teleporters or just taking an airplane to the city. I advise you to use a teleporter… just, if you <em> do </em> use one, please appear somewhere where you won’t be spotted. There aren’t really many airports there… just one major airport… and military air bases. But I’m getting ahead of myself… Hurry up and change!”</p><p>Aran quickly nodded before turning away from Master Hand and walking down the desert path toward her ship. About an hour and a half later, they had reached Aran’s ship. Upon entering, they dusted themselves off from the sand and dust that had gathered on their clothes (except for Master Hand… because he wasn’t wearing anything.) Aran finished cleaning her armor and excused herself. She grabbed a small case from the side of her ship and headed into a separate room. A few minutes later, she reappeared in the room, wearing casual clothes—a cap, a shirt, and tattered leggings. </p><p>“Heh…” Master Hand chuckled. “You look just like a normal human.”</p><p>“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Aran pouted. “Well… this attire is… it’s just… it’s too tight and uncomfortable! How long do I have to wear this for?”</p><p>“I don’t see anything wrong with it.” Master Hand sighed. “Well… it’s definitely nowhere near as flexible as the Zero Suit, but it’ll do for now. You’ll need to suck it up until the meeting is over, apprentice.”</p><p>“I guess I don’t have much of a choice. Master? Can you contact the recruit again?”</p><p>Master Hand moved over to the computer near the entrance and booted up his communication application. After starting the call, he heard a small dialing noise. The dialing noise abruptly changed into loud, continuous static. Aran covered her ears and yelled, “HELLO?!”</p><p>The noise stopped, and there was a panicky voice coming from the other end of the device. “W-WAAAH!!! Wh-Who is this?!”</p><p>“Hey, calm down.” Aran took a deep breath before continuing. “It’s me… the white, fluffy guy’s apprentice.”</p><p>Master Hand glared at her. “Really? <em> White fluffy guy </em>?”</p><p>“Hey, I was kidding!” Aran stifled her laughter. “I was trying to find a good way for him to remember you!”</p><p>“Why didn’t you just say I looked like a glove or a hand or something?”</p><p>“Because that wasn’t the first thing that came to mind!”</p><p>The person on the other side of the device cleared their throat. “Um… are you two done arguing yet? I’m waiting for you to arrive!”</p><p>“We’re done arguing,” Aran responded, giving her master the stink eye. “Where exactly did you want to meet up?”</p><p>“Um… I’m in the middle of this enclosed space. There are a lot of people passing by, holding bags of… whatever they’ve got. They keep giving me strange looks… like I’m an alien or a mutant or something! Maybe it’s the armor I’m wearing… Yeah, that’s probably it.”</p><p>“What the hell?” Aran wondered aloud. “Where is he?!” She turned to Master Hand. “Master, can you trace this call? I’ll teleport somewhere near there. It’ll be foolproof.”</p><p>“And what if you’re spotted?” </p><p>“I’ll just convince them.” Aran smiled. “I’ll just need to find some way to make them believe it’s just their consciousness and that I’m not really there.”</p><p>“I don’t know much about humans,” Master Hand started, “but I’m pretty sure they’re not <em> that </em> dumb.”</p><p>“Wait, um… Mind if I ask something?”</p><p>“Sure…” He sighed. “But make it quick.”</p><p>“Why are you wearing armor in public?”</p><p>He groaned. “Well… there’s a problem… See, I can’t exactly get the armor off, because…”</p><p>“You can’t get the armor off?” Aran chuckled. “Well, I can help you there if you need it…”</p><p>“N-No! No, that’s not what I meant! It’s not the kind of armor that knights and guards wear! It’s a little complicated, but there’s no way I can remove it. It’s pretty much stuck to me. Alright, now that I got that out of the way… We should probably discuss where to meet up. What’s the best place to meet up… where we won’t look suspicious?”</p><p>“Well, we could go into a compartment or storage room or something.” Aran noticed the other person groaning and mumbling something. “Um… is there something wrong? Did you have a better idea?”</p><p>“Uh, I was gonna suggest something more like just going to a restaurant, or a cafe… Something like that. That would be a lot less conspicuous, and I’m pretty sure it would also be a lot less illegal than sneaking into some room.”</p><p>“Right,” Aran said, and she nodded. “I’ll see you soon, new recruit.”</p><p>Master Hand hovered over near the computer and entered the coordinates of the recruit’s location after tracing the call. After the call was traced, a map appeared on the screen, with a crosshair frantically blipping around the screen. A few moments later, the call traced to a relatively small building on an island distant from the mainland continents. </p><p>“Apprentice,” Master Hand said. “I’ve found the location of the recruit.”</p><p>“Where’s he at?” Aran looked at the screen. “Where is this place?”</p><p>“I’m not sure.” Master Hand sighed. “Fortunately, it’s an island. Which means there hopefully won’t really be anyone there. We should be able to get our vessel into the atmosphere without being spotted.”</p><p>“I’ll input the coordinates into the ship and put it in autopilot.” She sat down in front of the monitor and pulled out a key from a small compartment beside it. She plugged the key and started the engine. The ship slightly rumbled before lifting off the ground. The desert sand was blown away as if it were in a tornado. The ship rose higher into the atmosphere until it was out of the sight of humans.</p><p>“Apprentice,” Master Hand said, a concerned expression on his face… (Uh, his… um… never mind.) “I’ll ask you again. Are you sure this is a good idea? We can never be too sure of how many people are in the area.”</p><p>“Of course, Master.” She looked at the map of the world. “We should be out of sight of any humans. According to the map and the images of the location, it seems to be an old shack or some sort of abandoned factory. There are several generators and fans around it, but I’m not sure they’re up and running right now.”</p><p>“Well…” Master Hand cleared his throat. “What if, hypothetically speaking, we were to be spotted? How would you manage to blend in with the rest of the people?”</p><p>“I’m dressed like a civilian, Master.” Aran smiled. “Don’t worry about it.”</p><p>“What about the ship, though? Where are we supposed to land?”</p><p>“Master, you worry too much. We’ll be fine. Worst case scenario, we get spotted but we manage to escape before they can report us. If that plan fails, we can exterminate some of the people.”</p><p>“I understand that you are a bounty hunter, but surely there’s a much less violent solution to that problem. We don’t need to start anything here in this place.”</p><p> “Right,” Aran opened up a small application on the screen. According to the navigation system, it would be several minutes until they arrived at the marked point on the map. Aran mentally prepared herself for what was to come. She leaned against the wall near the emergency hatch and calmly waited for the alarm to sound. Without warning, the ship came to an abrupt stop. Aran was flung sideways as well as many other smaller objects in the ship. Master Hand survived, though… because he was floating, he wasn’t affected by anything.</p><p>Aran picked herself off the ground and dusted herself off before eventually opening the emergency hatch. She grabbed a couple of parachutes from a nearby compartment and took several deep breaths before jumping down to the building below. Without hesitating, she pulled the strap to deploy the chute, but to no avail. The chute wouldn’t deploy. She internally panicked before deciding to try and deploy the reserve parachute, which also failed.</p><p>“Master!” Aran yelled into her device. “The chutes won’t deploy!”</p><p>“Both of them?! The reserve one, too?!” </p><p>“Yes!” She groaned. “I’m running out of time! As soon as I hit the building, I’ll either get really injured, or die!”</p><p>“It looks like we’ve got no choice, then!” He sighed. “You’ll need to equip your armor!”</p><p>“In public?! Master, I—”</p><p>“NOW!!!” He sounded exasperated.</p><p>Aran didn’t ask anything further and instead activated a device on her wrist. The device unlocked and expanded, covering her entire body in a gold-and-red suit of armor, with a blaster and a helmet. She looked down at the building beneath her. The building was made out of mostly white-painted concrete with several generators on the roof. Directly beneath her was a small glass dome that was big enough to fit someone about her size. <em> Hopefully this armor will soften the landing </em>, Aran thought, trying to be optimistic. She was only a few feet away from the dome. Closing her eyes tightly and holding her breath, she braced for impact.</p><p>There was a loud shattering sound and a deafening metal thump. Aran felt pain coursing through her body, her bones felt like they were on fire, the armor had barely protected her skin from the fall, and her armor appeared to be dented. Despite the loud ringing in her ears following the collision, she could make out several noises: People around her gasping and chattering nervously, the sound of glass falling and smashing against the floor, and the loud static coming from her communication device… which was in several pieces beside her.</p><p>She slowly rose to her feet and stumbled across to an elevator, knocking the shards of glass off of her armor while also trying to ignore the immense pain in every limb of her body. She barely had enough energy left to press the button, and nearly slumped over multiple times. She went down a couple of stories of the building and limped around the area, which made her conspicuous. Ignoring the excruciating pain she felt throughout all of her body, she continued to move forward, hoping to find the recruit.</p><p>The recruit was more or less in the same spot—albeit curled up and trying to hide from the other people in the building. He couldn’t tell whether he was humiliated, nervous, or mortified. He occasionally heard people gossiping as they strolled by, talking about him like he was some sort of alien. He continued to stay in that position and just waited for everyone to leave. He was about to get back up onto his feet when—</p><p>“Hello there!” </p><p>“Ah!” Without hesitating, he swung his arm around and smacked the person in the face. The person was knocked backwards and fell. Several people watching gasped and ran in the opposite direction from him. Blood poured from their nose and they had a bruise from the smack on their cheek. “O-Oh! I-I’m sorry!”</p><p>“My god…” The person wiped the blood off their face. “Do you smack someone anytime they try to talk to you? Is that normal?”</p><p>“Yes… Er, I mean no! No, I didn’t mean to! Those were just… natural reflexes! Of course, someone approaches you, the first thing you wanna do is smack ‘em!”</p><p>“I’m not sure where you came from, but that certainly isn’t normal.” They coughed out a small bit of blood. “Excuse me. Anyway… what’s your name?”</p><p>“M-My name?” He looked down at the floor, away from the other person. “I-I’m afraid I really don’t… I d-don’t actually have a name…”</p><p>“Don’t have a name,” the other person repeated. “That’s not good… Well, whatever. I take it you’re the recruit Master Hand sent me to find.” The person held their hand out. “By the way, my name is Aran. Samus Aran, intergalactic bounty hunter.”</p><p>“It’s nice to meet you, um… Samus.” He cleared his throat and took her hand. “I’m unnamed, um… Yeah, that’s all I really have to say.”</p><p>“Well, we need a good place to discuss our plans,” Samus mused. She turned to the recruit. “Do you have any suggestions?”</p><p>“There’s some kind of restaurant down at the other end of the building. I passed it as I entered the building. They were selling some kind of hot soup with strange meat and noodles. I didn’t think much of it when I first saw it, but now I think it’ll be the perfect place to discuss.”</p><p>“Lead the way, new recruit!” Samus smiled reassuringly at him. </p><p>He started power-walking to the other side of the building, Samus a few paces behind him. Samus eventually began to lag behind because of the pain from the descent into the giant glass dome and the hard linoleum floor. The recruit strolled rather happily, on the other hand, completely unaware of what had happened within the previous ten minutes. He stopped in front of the entrance to the restaurant and patiently waited for Samus to catch up to him. </p><p>They opened the massive glass doors and entered the restaurant. They were noticed by several other diners, who eyed them suspiciously. Samus and the recruit ignored them and made their way to a vacant table in the corner of the dining area.</p><p>The recruit cleared this throat. “So, about that competition you were in… what happened exactly?”</p><p>Samus blushed a little and refused to make eye contact with him. She stared at the brown-orange table rather than her new acquaintance before saying, “That’s none of your business.”</p><p>“It IS my business!” The recruit pounded the table, which earned him a few glares from the other diners. He lowered his voice and leaned closer to Samus. “I mean, it’s my business as well.”</p><p>Samus scoffed. “How so?”</p><p>“Your master and I made a deal earlier. The deal basically said that if anything happened to you, I would help you recover. Besides, I already agreed to help you here. So, I have the right to know what happened here.”</p><p>“I… I lost the battle.” She sighed. “I was… careless. I thought I could beat the enemy, but I underestimated their strength. That beast was too powerful. It was nothing like shooting down Metroids and fighting on different planets.”</p><p>“You can take down millions of… Asteroids, or whatever they’re called, right? How come you can’t take out a single target?”</p><p>Samus glared. “Because I had my ship. If I was allowed to use my ship in the battle, that monster would’ve been vaporized in seconds… That wouldn’t be fair now, would it?” She chuckled.</p><p>“But what’s the problem?” The recruit looked concerned. “Why did you call me here?”</p><p>“B-Because… I made a bet.” She bit her lip. “I… made a bet and lost. The bet I made was way more money than I had… My arrogance got the better of me, that’s how we ended up in this mess…”</p><p>“That was in the past,” he responded. “We all make mistakes… it’s human nature, nobody’s perfect. We just need to learn from them and not repeat the same mistakes… that’s a winner’s mentality. So, how much is this bet you made?”</p><p>Samus winced. “I, um… I d-don’t remember.”</p><p>He glared. “Yes, you do. If you don’t tell me, I can’t help you. Please… I know we haven’t known each other for long, but… you have to trust me.”</p><p>Samus looked down and mumbled, “I… It was about… I… Fifty thousand gold, at least…”</p><p>The recruit jumped out of his seat. “Wh-What?! You bet fifty THOUSAND?!”</p><p>“Shhh! Quiet!” She gripped his shoulder tightly and pulled him close to her. “Never tell anyone about this, alright? We already got enough attention getting into this place! We don’t need any more!”</p><p>“S-Sorry…” His voice was shaky. “I… I won’t say anything, I promise.”</p><p>“Good.” Samus cleared her throat. “Now, I’m not really sure where to find gold here on Earth, but I have some other ideas on how to repay my debt.”</p><p>“What are we gonna do, go to space? We can’t—”</p><p>She nodded. “Exactly. That’s exactly what we are going to do.”</p><p>“Well… what sort of payment does this guy want exactly?”</p><p>Samus rubbed her chin. “He was pretty vague when he talked about the payment… Just said something about ‘ores from a distant planet.’ He didn’t say what planet I needed to get them from, or what kind of ores he was looking for… just…” She sighed. “Since he wasn’t specific, I guess we’ll just gather whatever ores we can find on the planet and return to Earth once we have enough. Actually, now that I think about it, I do remember him saying that the planet was on the rim of the Milky Way… so there’s a start.”</p><p>“Right, but did he tell you which direction the planet was in? Without that, we’ll get nowhere. We can’t find the right planet without directions first.”  </p><p>“Well, I guess we’re just gonna have to wing it, recruit.” Samus looked at the ceiling and glanced around the room, as if she were expecting something to break into the room. “He doesn’t get the materials he wants, it’s his fault. Hmph, I wasn’t sure whether he was jumping to conclusion too quickly or just downright stupid. He should’ve known better than to trust a bounty hunter.”</p><p>“But bounty hunters obey people all the time!” the recruit responded. “I was watching… you know, that new Star Wars series with the dude with the blaster and stuff, you know which one I’m talking about?”</p><p>“Okay, two things: One, that’s a TV series, it’s <em> fiction </em>. And two, they only obey whoever pays them the most.” She looked at the menu that had been placed on the table. “Bounty hunters can be easily manipulated, however, they can also be very astute as well. You give a normal bounty hunter an inch, they’ll take a mile. He’s made a big mistake giving me the option to choose where to go. By the way… where did we go, exactly?”</p><p>“Um… the sign outside the room said they were selling something called… raw-min? I’m not sure, it was something like that.”</p><p>Samus read off the list of items under her breath quietly, before looking back at the recruit. “How about this: We’ll just order some food, talk about what we’re gonna do, and then we’ll go see my master.”</p><p>“Your master, huh…” His eyes suddenly lit up. “Oh! You mean that… floating thing, right? The <em> fluffy white guy </em>?”</p><p>She groaned. “<em> Please </em>, don’t call him that. I’d rather not get in trouble with him again. He seemed pretty annoyed when I called him that the first time.”</p><p>The recruit chuckled. “Heh, I noticed that.”</p><p>The waiter eventually came to take their order. Samus ordered a bowl of spicy ramen while the recruit ordered some gyoza and spicy ramen. Samus and the recruit just looked at each other seriously; they didn’t have anything important to say to each other. Occasionally, one would try to start a conversation, but it didn’t last very long. About fifteen minutes later, the waiter returned with their noodles and some glasses of water. Samus reached for a pair of chopsticks on the table and removed the paper that was covering them. After snapping them apart, she tried out the meal.</p><p>Samus felt a mixture of flavors and textures: salty ramen broth, the acidity of the green onions, and the savoriness of the pork. The noodles were incredibly hot due to the spiciness of the dish and the fact that the preparation of the dish had been completed a few minutes before they were served. The recruit, on the other hand, tried smelling the dish and choked.</p><p>Samus smirked. “What’s the problem? Too spicy?”</p><p>He wiped the tears from his eyes. “Yeah… it’s <em> way </em> too hot. I feel like I just stuck my head into a furnace.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “How can anyone handle this stuff?”</p><p>“You’ll get used to it eventually.” Samus picked up a piece of gyoza from the tray in the center of the table. “Now, we were talking about our plan.” She tasted a small part of the gyoza. “I have a ship that can take us pretty much anywhere. Just as long as those pesky Metroids don’t attack it…”</p><p>The recruit pushed the bowl aside and used his chopsticks to grab a gyoza from the tray. “So… about this deal you made… Sorry, I’ve been asking a lot of questions.”</p><p>Samus shook her head. “No, it’s fine. Ask whatever you want.”</p><p>“Did this person give you a time limit?” He bit the gyoza. “Like… how much time do we have to repay the debt?”</p><p>“He just said that the journey should take no more than a month or two.”</p><p>The recruit’s eyes widened. “A <em> MONTH </em>?! That’s ridiculous!”</p><p>Samus rolled her eyes. “I know. I hate that guy. However, I think he has underestimated my determination and strength… and the power of my ship. If we have a clear path to a planet on the edge of the galaxy, it should take a few days at most to reach it.”</p><p>“So, when are we gonna take off?”</p><p>Samus shrugged. “We could start now, if you want.”</p><p>“Of course!” The recruit smiled brightly. “That would be a great idea!”</p><p>Samus placed her money on the table before leaving through the back exit with her recruit. Her ship hovered a few feet in front of them, a bright beam stretching from the ground to the front of the ship. Eagerly grabbing the recruit’s arm and pulling him forward, Samus stepped into the light, and was pulled up to the ship where Master Hand was waiting for them. The recruit had a small panic attack about halfway through.</p><p>“Ah, hello Samus,” Master Hand said, relieved. “I’m glad you found our recruit.”</p><p>“Yup,” Samus said, nodding. “It wasn’t easy, though. Let’s just say, there was some… <em> violence </em> involved.”</p><p>“Hey, I said I was sorry, didn’t I?!” the recruit said, sulking.</p><p>Master Hand interrupted them. “Er… it’s very nice you were able to meet each other in person, finally. But, where are we supposed to go exactly?”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it, Master,” Samus said reassuringly. She smiled warmly. “We’ll find somewhere eventually.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I was actually planning to make this chapter longer, but it was already like 5,000 words so I decided to just end "Chapter One" here lol.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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